Let's see - your mega-star is concussed and out for who knows how long, your half-ass effort star is out for the rest of the year, and your ******bag thug cheap-shotted his way into a 4-game suspension.

The ship was righted for most of the time we've done without the superstar and the half-asser... Cooke actually probably is a bigger impact than losing Malkin at the moment, but the names swirling around are like Umberger, Iginla (not realistic IMO, but whatever). Big helps both... Depends a lot on Crosby returning. Shero says reports of him being out the season aren't accurate. *shrugs*

To me, I'd rather not make the playoffs this year than risk Crosby getting worse though, for certain. The ****** thing is they're stacked defensively this year and had a lot of great parts for making a good run. Malkin has almost played like he wasn't there anyway... The only positive then is the freed up cap space to possibly go for a bigger name player.

And Cooke may not be the cleanest player in the league, but I didn't see a lot of people up in arms when Crosby took two cheap shots and has been out since them. Not that his suspension wasn't deserved though.

Goligoski's gone to Dallas for Niskanen and Neal... Neal's nice for sure, and maturity on the blue-line is nice but Goligoski was a lot to give up. He's only going to get better. We've got extra puck-moving d-men so that's good, but Goligoski's youth (and free agency at the end of the year, I think) and the fact he was playing great right now all make me sorta shakey on any deal... Not to mention no Crosby or Malkin for possibly the rest of the year (Malkin's a definite on that), eh...

A local guy made the point that you owe it to the guys playing to try, and I agree. From the broader business POV I just question it I guess, but yeah. It's interesting anyway. I always love deadline time. I'm shocked they didn't go to the last hour on it though.

I don't know a ton about Neal though, beyond some basic stuff, so I hope he fits in well. I like size and hitting, and he seems like he'll improve as he gets older too. I like his style of play because it's not really common. I don't get to see him play often besides any highlights he makes though, but I dig him. It seems like a general concensus to a lot of folks that the Pens made out like bandits, but that seems like an underestimation of Goligoski to me personally.

I was honestly surprised Kennedy didn't get dealt (it ain't over yet though of course) because he lands in the doghouse at various points all season it seems. I like him and his style but he does sometimes seem to slack.

Local media are all abuzz about issues in the ownership of both Phoenix Coyotes and Atlanta Thrashers. Naturally mention of Winnipeg as a new host city are in there. But Quebec City has stepped up big time, particularly with the promise of provincial dollars to help fund a new arena and a legit owner from the Quebecor Group so they're a legit player as of right now, though their arena won't be ready until 2015 (not sure if the old arena where the Nordiques played still exists or not).

The Coyotes issue surrounds the ongoing saga of selling the team. A legit buyer is in place out of Chicago but it seems the bonds they are issuing/selling are facing challenges, potentially, legal, as this is public money.

Atlanta on the other hand has reports that the team has lost 120 million over the past five years. There are groups somewhat interested but that would require the current owners to sell not on the Thrashers but also the arena and the Atlanta Hawks of which the latter is not losing money. It sounds like that ownership just wants to unload the pink elephant and keep the Hawks and the arena.

Yeah, a media article a day, radio stations chatting it up. Right now the suggestion is we could see an NHL team by this fall. I'll believe that once tickets are on sale. At the same time talking to some friends that are far more connected to the entertainment industry than I am say it's likely to happen. Those same folks had also indicated last summer that fall of 2011 was the likely time for a team to return and the owner of the Moose has apparently been working on moving that team to either Regina or Saskatoon.

From some of the stuff I've read the watchdog in Phoenix is a huge stumbling block because essentially the City of Glendale is trying to buy the parking rights for 100 million but they already own them. So the watchdog is saying no way are you using public funds to buy something you already own, which is essentially giving the new proposed owner 100 million for nothing. Can't say I blame a watchdog group for not being a fan of that.

We'll see what happens. This has been discussed so much over the past couple of years it's become boring. I'll buy a ten game minipack if they come back, but don't think I'd spend much beyond that. Sure would like to be at the home opener though.

I'd also like a name change from both the Coyotes and the Jets. But I'm pretty sure there'd be a bloody revolution around here if they weren't called the Jets.

Well I really don't think you'd have to worry much about that as I'm sure we'll end up with the Jets again and probably the same logo and classic colors as well. I'm just trying to be somewhat pragmatic about marketing opportunities that would help the team actually stay here. The "Jets" were the worst selling of the logos/teams etc. in the league each year. Not that I necessarily want to see us in San Jose colors with a stylized logo like that but some improvement on the old logo and name are pretty desperately needed.

The whole notion of the Jets name as being relevant to Winnipeg is pretty silly too. When the WHA established back in 1972 Winnipeg was trying to be a large player in the air transportation industry. Winnipeg was the third largest city in Canada and the goal was to have a very large airport as a North American distribution hub. But that ended up being Chicago, not us, so we really have no legitimate reason to lay claim to the name other than nostalgia and personally I'd like to move beyond that. I think we should claim something to do with Polar Bears if only to piss off Bruins fans. Minnesota did a good job with the Wild but maybe we should claim something like the Wolves. And didn't Minnesota kill off all its wildlife in the great American tradition anyway? Badgers? Wolverines? There really aren't any of those in Wisconsin or Michigan are there? Just skeletal or stuffed remains in museums? Maybe we could go with skunks? We have lots of skunks

Minnesota did a good job with the Wild but maybe we should claim something like the Wolves.

There was a lot of pressure on them to re-acquire the North Stars name from Dallas, but in the end it was probably for the best they ignored those folks and went with something new and let the past be the past. The whole Wild logo took a while to understand/appreciate, but really everyone was so glad to have hockey back it didn't matter.

I sort of see your point with the Jets. I'm sure there will be lots of nostalgia/desire for that old logo/name, but like you said starting over would probably be easier. Appreciate the past, but build for the future and that sort of thing.

And finally, I really hope that if you guys get a team (like Phoenix) they stick you in our league and put the Canucks in the Pacific. I hate staying up for those 930pm West Coast games, I'd much rather they be more 7pm games against you guys.

I'll see what I can do about tickets (if). It'll be a crazy hot item to get hold of for sure. Probably the only hockey game I'd pay a lot extra to get into aside from an all-star game.

I hear ya on the games on the West Coast. We used to have Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton so all the games were late. Would make a lot of sense for the Wild and Winnipeg to be in the same division with the likes of Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, St. Louis or something like that.

I can see them sticking with the Jets name, but there's no doubt they need to update the logo -- that way you get a little bit of old for nostalgia, a little bit of new for moving on to even bigger things.

Hard to believe that Quebec City has a larger television audience than us. The population of the general areas are pretty much identical and I'd think that they'd lose a chunk of their fanbase to the Habs. I'm also not keen on the Federal government contributing to an arena in that city since they didn't contribute to ours. I honestly think that they have to get both federal and provincial money to build a new arena would put their ownership group well behind the one in Winnipeg but who knows what the NHL thinks or if they even do.

I do agree though that we'd be the smallest city in Canada with an NHL team. I would also agree with the contention that they could put another team in southern Ontario (Hamilton-ish) and it would probably do better, so long as they had a solid ownership group (cough*Balsillie*cough) with deep pockets but clearly that situation is all screwed up in general and made more complex by the proximity of Toronto/Buffalo. Obviously the Leafs wouldn't bat an eye at the notion but it may well impact Buffalo.

I'll get fired up when they have dates for season tickets to go on sale. And if they do keep the Jets name I'll have home and away jerseys still.

I really think Winnipeg would do better than Hammilton... Ottawa's not THAT far from there either. That's a lot of teams in a tight area, but I guess it's not really any different than the eastern cities in the U.S. either. I just think WInnipeg makes a lot more sense.

Lots of press last night, way too much Bettman for most humans to consume. "No firm deadline" from the Supreme being (because it's two and half months gone already dumbass) so the team is still meant for Phoenix in his eyes. Yawn.